Nursing care
Nursing care refers to the services and support provided by nurses to individuals, families, and communities to promote and maintain health, prevent illness, and care for those who are ill or injured. Nursing care is an essential component of healthcare and encompasses a wide range of responsibilities and tasks. Here are some key aspects of nursing care:
Assessment: Nurses assess the health status of patients through physical examinations, interviews, and the collection of medical histories. This assessment helps determine the patient's needs and the appropriate care plan.
Planning: After assessing the patient's needs, nurses develop a care plan that outlines the goals, interventions, and expected outcomes. Care plans are individualized to address the specific needs of each patient.
Implementation: This stage involves carrying out the care plan. Nurses administer medications, provide treatments, assist with activities of daily living (ADLs), and offer emotional support to patients and their families.
Monitoring: Nurses continuously monitor the patient's condition, including vital signs, symptoms, and responses to treatment. They adjust the care plan as needed based on the patient's progress or changes in their health.
Education: Nurses educate patients and their families about their conditions, treatments, medications, and self-care practices. Patient education is essential for promoting health and preventing illness.
Advocacy: Nurses often act as advocates for patients, ensuring that they receive appropriate care and that their rights and preferences are respected. Advocacy may also involve communicating with other healthcare professionals on behalf of the patient.
Communication: Effective communication is a fundamental aspect of nursing care. Nurses communicate with patients, their families, and the healthcare team to ensure that everyone is informed and involved in the patient's care.
Coordination: Nurses work collaboratively with other healthcare professionals, such as physicians, therapists, and social workers, to provide comprehensive care. Effective coordination ensures that the patient's needs are met efficiently.
Safety: Patient safety is a top priority in nursing care. Nurses follow strict protocols to prevent medication errors, infections, and other safety risks. They also ensure a clean and safe environment for patients.
Comfort and Emotional Support: Nursing care includes providing emotional support to patients and their families. Nurses often play a crucial role in helping patients cope with illness, pain, and anxiety.
Documentation: Nurses maintain accurate and detailed records of patient assessments, care provided, and the patient's response to treatment. Proper documentation is essential for continuity of care and legal purposes.
Ethical Practice: Nurses adhere to ethical standards and codes of conduct in their care. They must make decisions that prioritize the well-being and autonomy of their patients.
Nursing care is provided in a variety of settings, including hospitals, clinics, long-term care facilities, schools, and home care. It is a vital part of the healthcare system and contributes to the overall health and well-being of individuals and communities.
Registered Nurse-to-Patient Ratio and nursing competence is known to affect patient outcomes. The first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic entailed novel ways for staffing to meet the expected increased acute care demand, which potentially could impact on quality of care.
Methods: A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted, using the MISSCARE Survey. A sample of nursing staff during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic (n=130) was compared with a reference sample (n=157).
Results: Few differences between samples concerning elements of missed care, and no significant differences concerning reasons for missed care were found. Most participants perceived the quality of care and the patient safety to be good.
Conclusion: The results may be explained by three factors: maintained registered nurse/patient ratio, patients' dependency levels and that nursing managers could maintain the staffing needs with a sufficient skill mix.
Implications for nursing management: Nursing managers impact on the occurrence of MNC; to provide a sufficient registered nurse/patient ratio and skill mix when staffing. They play an important role in anticipatory planning, and during infectious diseases outbreaks 1).
Dignified care protects the patient's rights and provides appropriate ethical care while improving the quality of nursing care. In this context, the opinions of nurses and patients who receive nursing care about dignified care are important.
The aim of a study was to explore the opinions and experiences of Turkish patients and nurses about respectful care of human dignity.
This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in Turkey. Participants were inpatients at cardiology, neurology and neurosurgery clinics and nurses working in these clinics. The data for the study were collected from face-to-face interviews using questionnaires. The percentages of characteristics and preferences of the participants were calculated, and the results were analysed using statistical tests.
A total of 150 patients and 78 nurses participated in the study. The patients stated that the protection of their rights was the most important factor for dignified nursing care. The nurses stated that being careful to not expose the patients' body and being respectful of the patients' privacy were important in dignified nursing care. The age of the patient, duration of the disease, number of hospitalisations and length of time the nurses had been working at the clinic caused significant changes in the factors considered important in dignified care.
The findings provide a perspective on dignified care in the Turkish healthcare setting. There were some differences between patients and nurses in the factors considered important for dignified care. The discussion with patients and nurses related to care and practices that protect or detract from human dignity can provide insights to ethics 2).